Ph.D. in Spanish

Ph.D. Program

This degree program allows students to conduct research in Spanish and Latin American
literary and cultural studies. It offers to connect this research with issues in Comparative
Literature, Trans-Atlantic Studies, Film Studies and other related fields. In addition,
it provides for opportunities to expand collaborative research and teaching venues
with other disciplines, such as Linguistics, Anthropology and History. For more information
concerning doctoral programs please consultthe University Bulletin.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

Students must have an M.A. degree in Spanish or related fields of study. A total of
30 credit hours may be approved toward the Ph.D. The Spanish Graduate Advisor is responsible
for the approval of credit hours, and for designing individual programs of study.

Students may be admitted directly into the Ph.D. program. These students should have
a B.A. degree in Spanish or in related fields of study.

Students with a degree in related fields of study may need to take a Proficiency Exam
in order to show their verbal, writing and reading skills in Spanish. Exceptions may
be granted when the applicant/student's first language is Spanish.

In order to pursue the Ph.D. in Spanish, the candidate should have minimum GRE scores of
500/153 on the verbal section and 4.0 on the analytical section (or scores of 400/146
and 3.5, respectively, for non-native English speakers). An applicant whose native
language is not English is required to submit a satisfactory score on the TOEFL or
the IELTS International Academic Course Type 2 exam. The minimum acceptable score
on the TOEFL is 80 (iBT), 230 (computer-based) or 570 (paper-based). The minimum acceptable
overall band score on the IELTS International Academic Course Type 2 exam is 6.5.

Three letters of recommendation from previous Spanish instructors are required for
inclusion in the candidate’s application. Applicants are asked to submit an academic
writing sample, written in Spanish, and a statement of purpose of one to two pages
in length that describes (1) previous academic work related to Spanish, (2) relevant
practical experience, (3) intended specialization and/or probable research interest,
and (4) career goals. In order to test Spanish speaking skills, a five-minute sample
of spoken Spanish is also required of non-native speakers. The file should be saved
as an .mp3 file. For those who native language is Spanish, a sample of spoken English
is required submitted in the same format.

If a prospective student is seeking a departmental assistantship, all application
materials as indicated above must be received by the Graduate School and the Department
of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures by January 1. Applications submitted to the
Department after May 1 will be processed for the following year.

REQUIREMENTS

Beyond the B.A. degree, candidates for the Ph.D. degree are required to take 66 graduate
hours of course work. While each student's degree program will vary depending on areas
of specialization, there are general requirements which must be met. They are as follow:

A. The student will be required to take a Ph.D. Qualifying Examination. Normally,
this Examination will take place at the end of the first semester of study and will
consist of the presentation of a written analytical commentary of a text in the student's
major area of concentration. The Advisory Committee will oversee this Examination.

The Advisory Committee is appointed by the program toward the end of the first semester
of enrollment and should include three (3) faculty from the student's academic program.
The purpose of this Committee is to provide initial advisement, guide academic planning
and research, and construct the doctoral program of study (D-POS) to be filed with
the Graduate School.

The Spanish Graduate Advisor will notify the dean of The Graduate School when the
student has passed the Qualifying Examination, has been fully admitted to the doctoral
program, has an approved D-POS on file, and has been nominated to doctoral candidacy
by the program. Students with an MA in Spanish from UofSC-Columbia and who have successfully passed
the MA Comprehensive Examination within the past five years will be exempted from
taking the Qualifying Examination.Part-time doctoral students in Spanish must take the Qualifying Examination no later
than after having completed nine (9) hours of graduate courses in Spanish at UofSC-Columbia.

B. Course work

Each student must take 24 credit hours of approved course work, and 12 hours of dissertation
preparation (beyond the M.A. degree). With the approval of the Spanish Graduate Advisor,
students may substitute a total of six (6) credit hours (2 courses) in another area
related to their field of study and/or their dissertation research.

Students who enter the Ph.D. program with a B.A. degree must complete 54 hours of
graduate course work, and 12 additional credit hours of Dissertation (research and
writing).

C. Courses

Students should complete the core-courses designated for the M.A. degree in Spanish
(cf: M.A. in Spanish). In addition, students may choose courses to complete the 24
credit-hours of required course work from the following non-exhaustive list:

D. Second Language:Students must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one (1) other language beyond English
and Spanish. Satisfying the requirement may entail one or more of the following: successful
completion of an intensive reading course in a language approved by The Graduate School
(e.g., FREN 615), successful completion of a course at the intermediate level of language
proficiency within six (MA) or ten (PhD) years previous of the award of the degree,
or a passing grade on a language reading proficiency examination administered by the
UofSC Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (DLLC). Native speakers of
languages other than Spanish and English may submit form G-CIECertification in English as a Foreign Language.

E. Comprehensive Examination

Each student must take and pass a six-hour Comprehensive Examination of two (2) equal
parts (Peninsular and Latin American Literatures). This Examination will consist of
a series of two (2) written exams and a one-hour oral exam (to be given within three
[3] weeks after successfully passing the two written parts of the Examination). A
student who fails any of the written portions a second time may not take the oral
exam and is eliminated from candidacy. A Comprehensive Examination Committee will
design the questions for this Examination, and they will be based on reading lists
pertinent to each of the previously-mentioned exam segments.

The oral examination will include an oral defense of the written parts, and an oral
defense of a third bibliography that relates to the student’s anticipated dissertation
research. The oral portion may be repeated only once.

The student has not successfully completed the Comprehensive Examination until (s)he
has passed both the written and oral parts of the Examination.

Comprehensive examinations are held in January over two (2) days together with all
the other graduate comprehensive examinations of the Department of Languages, Literatures
and Cultures. Students must form their examination committee by August 31 of the Fall
semester prior to taking the Comprehensive Examination. This includes filing the requisite
examination committee form with the Graduate School (G-DCA form available online).
The student selects the examination committee which must have at least three (3) members
who may be identical to (but not necessarily the same as those of) the dissertation
committee. The Graduate School has waived the requirement that the examination committee
(only) must include an outside member.

F. Dissertation

Each candidate will write a dissertation on a topic to be chosen in conjunction with
and approved by the Dissertation Director (and Committee) and the Spanish Graduate
Advisor. The Dissertation should demonstrate relevant contributions to existing and
current scholarship in the chosen area/s.

The Dissertation Committee will be decided upon by the candidate and the Dissertation
Director with the endorsement of the Spanish Graduate Advisor. In addition to the
Dissertation Director, it will include three (3) Graduate Faculty members. Two of
these Faculty members must be from the Spanish program and one (1) other may be from
another program of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (or a related
department of the University of South Carolina-Columbia), pending approval of the
Dissertation Director. An updated G-DCA form must be filed with the Graduate School.

The proposal for the Dissertation and the composition of the Dissertation Committee
should be approved by the Dissertation Director with the endorsement of the Spanish
Graduate Advisor.

A prospectus will be presented and defended by the end of the semester after passing
the Comprehensive Examination (usually April).

G. Dissertation Defense

The completed dissertation must be successfully defended before the candidate's Dissertation
Committee as stipulated by The Graduate School. Candidates must distribute the complete
dissertation to their Committee, as approved by their Director, at least thirty (30)
days prior to their defense.

For more detailed information on 700- and 800-level courses, visit the page on Graduate Seminars.